Vive Hevron! 700 French Jews visit Hebron

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tzipi Hotovely spoke as new French immigrants visited.

17.8.16, 10:32

(PHOTO: Member of Knesset Tzipi Hotovely, Jacques Kupfer, and leaders of the Israël is Forever organization. Credit: Israël is Forever)

Over 700 French-speaking Jews visited Hebron on Monday as part of a "Hebron Day" event organized by the Israël is Forever organization.

The group toured the holy sites in the city including the Tomb of Machpela, burial site of the Biblical Matriarchs and Patriarchs, the Avraham Avinu synagogue, and the historic Beit Romano building, home of the Shavei Hevron yeshiva.

The group marched through the streets of the Old City of Hebron and the Jewish quarter. At Gross Square, located at the intersection of King David Street (Shuhada Street) and Emek Hevron, they recited kaddish for Aaron Gross, a 19-year-old American-Israeli who was stabbed to death by PLO terrorists.

The march continued through the streets as the crowd waved Israeli flags, sang and danced.

In front of the monumental Tomb of Machpela complex, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tzipi Hotovely spoke to group.

She stated:

"In 1968, the new Jewish community in the City of the Forefathers was founded, initiating the repatriation to Judea and Samaria.

This place is a symbol of our deepest roots, going back 4,000 years. But it is also a symbol of the great tragedy of events of the 1929 Hebron massacre [the anniversary of which is this month].

There was no 'occupation' in 1929 - and the State of Israel wasn't around yet, but the struggle between the civilization [of Jihad] and the civilization of the Jews already had begun back then, instigated by Haj Amin el-Husseini.

"Anyone who wants to remember and understand why we came back to our Land need only visit this place.

To the wonderful people that came here from France I say, the State of Israel is waiting for all of the Jews of France.
The bureaucratic problems are fixable, but the country needs you here in the homeland of the Jewish people."

MK Hotovely is the latest in a series of law-makers to visit the city this summer including Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, Miister Ze'ev Elkin, MK Ofir Akunis and others.

Among the organizers of the event was Jacques Kupfer, the President of Israël is Forever. Kupfer was chairman of the Likud of France and currently serves as a Member of the Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency, chairman of the development of Kiryat Arba-Hebron, chairman of the World Likud Party and a member of the World Zionist Organization.